Er Doc's Forever Gift

‘Go home, Sienna. Take time out for yourself.’ Dale appeared in front of her, refocusing her errant brain.

‘It’s just gone two. I’ve got hours to go. Anyway, I told Andrew’s parents I’d be here while they take a much needed break.’

‘I’ve got it covered.’ The head of Paediatrics was studying her as if he’d never seen her before. ‘You’ve put in ridiculously long hours this week, as always.’

‘That’s how the job goes.’

‘Most of us have a life outside these four walls that we actively try to participate in with family and friends, not spend our energy avoiding.’

But she didn’t have family close by.

You do have friends in town.

Who were equally tied up with work as she was.

‘Spread those wings, Si. Lighten up a bit.’

Yes, Dad.

‘Take the whole weekend off. I’ve got your patients covered,’ Dale remonstrated like a harassed parent. ‘You’re not doing yourself or anyone else any favours working all these ridiculous hours.’

I need to make sure I’m busy all the time.

But he was right. She had put in uncountable hours throughout the week, and even for her she was overtired. It was time to relax. And honestly, not to have to think about medications and results and children in pain sounded like bliss. It’d be a rare treat—if only she knew what to do with it. ‘I’m out of here.’

Walking off the ward in the middle of the afternoon should’ve been exciting. Instead it was...worrying. Hours stretched ahead. Her father was right: she was far too ensconced in her life of all work and no play. But how to change? Where to start?

At home, standing on her narrow deck, Sienna couldn’t come up with anything to do with this precious time out. It felt alien. The sun was still in the sky. The birds still tweeting. Had she really become so rigid in how she lived that she couldn’t think outside the square?

Too serious, my girl. You need to relax sometimes.

Staring across her front lawn, Sienna noted the grass needed cutting. While the area was pocket-sized, the thought of hauling out the electric mower didn’t excite her. Not that it ever did, but keeping the grass under control was one of those things she did to feel on top of her world. Pathetic.

Deliberately turning away, Sienna glanced across at the adjoining apartment. If Harry was at home she might be tempted to take a bottle of wine over and apologise for being such a grump last week. Her fingers tingled and she flexed them to relax the tension taking hold in her muscles. She did want more excitement outside of doctoring in her life, right? But with an attractive man who managed to get under her skin even when she was mad at him? Why not? Go for broke. Or go put her head under the pillow and not come out for a month. That should work.

Spinning around, she headed inside, away from that lawn, those shut windows, the car that needed a wash. In the lounge she automatically flicked a straight curtain straighter.

Stretch your wings.

Yeah, right. Like how? Picking up her phone, she checked for messages, pressed speed dial for her friend Anna. ‘Hey, sorry I’m so late returning your call but it’s been one of those days.’

Anna laughed. ‘When isn’t it with you?’

‘Says the lawyer who never goes home before midnight. So what’s up? Want to have a meal downtown tomorrow night?’ Girlfriends united. Boring if fun. Why did she glance across to Harry’s place? Nothing would ever happen between them.

‘We can celebrate. As of this morning you legally own every last nail and tile in your swanky apartment.’

‘I’d forgotten you were filing my petition today. So Bernie’s finally paying up? After three years arguing? Unbelievable.’ Sienna’s heart stuttered. ‘This is great news. I’ll never have to think of him again.’ The lying, cheating fiancé who’d decided he preferred to live with the woman he’d reconnected with at his school reunion than marry her when for years he’d sworn he loved her more than his high-end car and multi-million-dollar home.

‘It’s all wrapped up, plus there’s a bonus. He’s paying your legal costs and money for half that rental property you bought jointly.’

‘My shout for tomorrow night. Cortado’s.’ Their favourite place for major celebrations. Putting the phone down, Sienna again checked the time, but only minutes had passed. ‘Now what?’

Go for routine.

In Titirangi over an hour later she pinged the locks on her car, swung a leg over her cycle and headed up the winding road leading to Piha Beach. Almost immediately the high humidity had her in a sweat. Good for the muscles, not so great for her breathing, but she kept pedalling hard. This would get whatever was eating her out of the system. She was not thinking about Harry, right? Not picturing that good-looking face or the smile that increased the speed with which her blood moved through her veins. Not at all.

A car swerved around her, the passenger jeering about her butt as it passed.

‘Get a life, will you?’ she snarled between breaths. Why couldn’t people leave others to get on with what they enjoyed? What was so much fun about being rude to strangers?

Cycling was her time to relax, because she concentrated entirely on riding and often forgot what had got her on the bike in the first place. Except today it wasn’t working.

What did Harry do for relaxation? Apart from hold noisy parties for upset colleagues, or stay out overnight maybe? Did she really care? Unfortunately she might. Though she shouldn’t. He was on a temporary contract and would soon be gone again. It had taken months for her to trust Bernie enough to get close to him, not weeks, so she could forget all about getting to know this man. Hard to do, that. He just seemed to pop up in her mind whenever there was a free moment.

The front wheel wobbled in thick gravel. So much for concentrating on riding. Shoving the neighbour and the world out of her mind, she focused on getting to the top of the busy road without taking a break.

Harry had muscles in all the right places and made whatever he wore look superb. Of course she’d noticed. It would be rude not to. Some sights weren’t made to be ignored. Bet he did some form of sport or worked out. Was she so desperate for changes in her life she was hallucinating about the neighbour? Except Harry wasn’t a fantasy and her reactions to his physique were all too real. Oh, yes, real and solid and tempting. Damn it. Next stop, the library for a pile of books to keep her entertained until this feeling passed. Probably about when Harry left town.

Wheel-wobble. Again. Her cycling had taken a turn for the worse.

Deep breath, focus, right pedal down, left up. Left down, right up. That’s it. Careful, sharp bend and steep decline. Squeeze the brake, change gear. Concentrate.

It worked. Until the road straightened and the incline lessened, giving her nothing to concentrate on so hard. Nothing except the man persisting in getting in her head space. What would he be like in bed? He exuded confidence in everything else that she’d seen so it followed that—

Toot-toot.

Sienna swerved abruptly, away from the centre of the road, and towards—over—the edge. Her front wheel dropped abruptly, alarmingly. Her body flipped forward, her hands gripping the now useless handlebars, her legs still pumping, even though she was in freefall; down, down, down. Bushes tore at her, twisted the cycle left then right, and on downward. The momentum compounded the speed. More bushes, bigger now, snagging at her, tearing across her face, her arms. Then she was upside down, slamming the ground with her shoulder, tossed sideways, with the cycle she still held on to with a fierceness she couldn’t explain now twisted between her legs. Pain tore through her, then a thud.

Bounce. Bounce.

Slowing.

A tree blocked her path.

Thump.

Blackness engulfed her.

CHAPTER THREE (#u097dfc34-06d5-5fea-80f0-e933de4426dd)

SIENNA BLINKED HER eyes open, gasped at the pain filling her body from every direction. ‘What happened? Where am I?’ There were dark clouds in her head, along with pulsing, banging symbols of pain. Dragging her eyelids up, she stared at the scene in front of her. Trees, bushes...

Darkness took over again.

‘Hello?’

She was having a nightmare. Any second now she’d wake up and find herself on her bike heading down the hill towards the beach. Bike. Hill. Rolling over and over.